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"You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.
"Furthermore it has been said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.
"Again, you have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.' But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God's throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No.' For whatever is more than these is from the evil one."
- Matthew 5:27-37
We are currently reading through the Sermon on the Mount (it began with the Beatitudes on Monday, and is continuing through subsequent readings). In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught, "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.' But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, 'Raca!' shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny."
"You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.'" Having elaborated His gospel as the fulfillment of the law against murder (yesterday's reading, posted above), Jesus turns to the statute against adultery (Exodus 20:14, Deuteronomy 5:18).
"But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell." In yesterday's reading, Jesus talked about words spoken in anger, personal insults and how they are related to murder. Here He speaks of adultery and lust. We should recall that what Jesus is speaking about here is a deliberate cultivation of a state of mind, not normal natural attraction to others. This is all about how we decide to "look" at others, a frame of mind of covetousness. In this sense, to speak about an eye that causes sin makes perfect metaphorical sense. The hand is another metaphor for covetousness, wanting to "take" or even steal in an unrighteous sense, one that does not support community. Both the eye and the hand that cause sin describe seeing others as material for some form of gain or acquisition (in this case, as He is presumably addressing men, viewing a woman "to lust for her").
"Furthermore it has been said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery." Again, Jesus is addressing men. In Jewish tradition, only a man could get a divorce. Under Mosaic Law this was a very easy practice, and often misused as a way to discard a wife who was no longer pleasing, for any reason. Jesus repeatedly condemns divorce under such conditions (see also 19:8-9). Instead, He emphasizes love and community, the eternal spiritual nature of marriage. The clause "except for sexual immorality" does show that marriage can be abused and broken, destroyed by sin, even as our bond with God can be harmed by sin and create separation. The early Church expanded grounds for divorce to include various forms of abuse, including threat to life (of child or spouse) and desertion -- but remained consistent in its view that this is spiritual tragedy.
"Again, you have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.' But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God's throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No.' For whatever is more than these is from the evil one." My study bible says of this passage, "Trust cannot be secured by swearing an oath by things that are not in man's possession anyway, but only by simple integrity." Again, Jesus' words emphasize an integrity that comes from true centeredness, and His teachings emphasize right-relatedness, community in terms of relation to God and neighbor. It is linked to the teaching in yesterday's reading on name-calling; to address injustice only truth is needful. This is not the first, and it won't be the last call of Jesus for awareness in how we use words, what comes out of our mouths.
Jesus' teachings in His gospel, His expansion on the statutes in the Mosaic Law, always emphasize love and relationship; that is, righteousness or "right-relatedness." They are exemplary teachings about love of God and neighbor. He also gives us as an overarching theme in the concept of self-mastery. That is, our own ability to act and choose in a manner consistent with His teachings. We have the ability not only to choose our words (or at least to work on this!) and how we relate to others, but also the capacity to recognize where we are weak in any of these dimensions and to attempt to cast off from ourselves our own tendencies to what is undesirable. It's important also that we know He speaks to His disciples, those who will become leaders of His Church. Jesus speaks of cutting off a hand or an eye as metaphorical reference to capacities for cultivating a particular mindset, a way of looking, of thinking, or of seeking in ways that deny community and relationship. If we think about His teachings on lust, what He's really emphasizing is relationship between human beings, a kind of life which is inseparable from the nature of God, which is love. That is, relationships between people must be rooted in the core recognition of the basic relationship between God and human beings. When we look at others as some form of material acquisition, we're separating our identity as persons from theirs. And divorce is no easy or casual matter, even in today's world in which divorce is frequent and socially acceptable; families still suffer, and so do individuals. We lose something when we seek to view our lives as other than the fullness of body, soul, and spirit inseparable from one another -- when we fail to recognize our needs on each of these levels, or choose to ignore the reality of our true condition as human beings. The breakup of family or relationship is still a spiritual tragedy, even when it becomes a necessity because of some form of abuse. How we choose to speak to one another also comes into this same category of recognizing the fullness of what it means to be a person. As children of the Creator endowed with the capacity to be "like" God, to resemble God's "image," we remain called upon to recognize the power of how we choose to relate to God, to ourselves, to one another -- as well as our capacity for self-reflection and transcendence of sheer impulse. Our integrity and capacity for speaking honestly and directly depends on this. Jesus' framework here is not a "legalistic" one, despite the fact that He is expanding on the Mosaic Laws. This is a teaching rooted in the framework of love and grace, and our need for both in all aspects of our lives.
